Brush box

ABSTRACT

A BRUSH BOX FOR STORING A BRUSH THEREIN AND CONTAINING A DISPENSER FOR A PRODUCT TO BE APPLIED TO THE BRUSH. THE DISPENSER IS AUTOMATICALLY ACTUATED BY THE BRISTLES UPON REMOVAL OF THE BRUSH FROM THE BRUSH BOX AND THE PROPER AMOUNT OF THE DESIRED PRODUCT IS APPLIED TO THE BRISTLES.

United States Patent Inventor Winlried Joseph Werding 25 Avenue de Chailly 100, Lausanne, Switzerland Appl. No. 835,341 Filed June 23, 1969 Patented June 28, 1971 Priority Apr. 25, 1967 Switzerland 5900/67 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 655,900, July 25, 1967, now abandoned.

BRUSH BOX 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 401/125, 251/303, 312/207 Int. Cl A46b 11/00 Field ofSearch 401/118,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 169,576 11/1875 Peterson 25 l/303X 1,453,816 5/1923 Welpley 3l2/206UX 2,559,863 7/1951 Fillman 3l2/207X 2,576,550 11/1951 Waters.. 401/128X 2,581,267 1/1952 Majewski 401/208X 2,589,349 3/1952 Diefenbach 220/18X 2,783,489 3/1957 Bogoslowsky.... 401/129 3,002,798 10/1961 Corley 401/125X FOREIGN PATENTS 628,714 7/1927 France 401/125 Primary Examiner-Harland S. Skogquist Attorneys-Robert E. Burns and Emmanuel J. Lobato ABSTRACT: A brush box for storing a brush therein and containing a dispenser for a product to be applied to the brush. The dispenser is automatically actuated by the bristles upon removal of the brush from the brush box and the proper amount of the desired product is applied to the bristles.

BRUSH BOX This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 655,900, filed on July 25, 1967, and now abandoned.

This invention is concerned with a novel box for holding and restoring a brush which is to be used to apply any desired product, such as dentrifice, a shoe polish, cosmetics, and the like. The present invention will be described with reference to a toothbrush but it is to be understood that other types of brushes could also be used.

The invention will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings and in which;

FIG. I is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a toothbrush box; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional of another embodiment of a toothbrush box.

The box shown in FIG. 1 comprises an enclosed rectangular casing 10 having an opened portion 11 at one end thereof. A transparent cover 12 is slidably mounted on the casing 10 and comprises one of the side faces of the brush box. The casing 10 is divided into a brush holder compartment 13 and a product dispenser compartment 14 by means of partitions l and 16. A cylindrical roller 18 is rotatably mounted on shaft 17 at the interface between the brush holder compartment 13 and the product dispenser compartment 14 and functions to automatically apply the proper amount of a viscous liquid product 19 to the bristles ofa brush.

A projecting member 20 is positioned on one sidewall ofthe casing opposite the cylindrical roller 18 to ensure that the bristles of the brush contact the cylindrical roller, as hereinafter described.

In operation, a brush, such as a toothbrush 21 having bristles 22, is inserted into the brush box through opening 11. The partition 16 overlies the cylindrical roller 18 sufficiently to prevent the bristles 22 from actuating the roller as the head of the brush is moved between the projection 20 and the partition I6; the bristles 22 are forced inwardly towards the handle of the brush 2] and hence do not actuate the cylindrical roller 18 upon insertion of the brush into the brush box. The brush is stored in the brush box until it is desired to be used. During the removal of the brush, the projection 20 ensures that the bristles 22 come in contact with and rotate the cylindrical roller 18. As the roller 18 is rotated by frictional engagement with the bristles 22, a predetermined amount of the viscous liquid 19 is transferred from the roller surface to the bristles 22 and upon complete removal of the toothbrush from the brush box, the bristles 22 are coated with an adequate supply of the product 19. Thus, when the toothbrush is inserted into the brush box and withdrawn therefrom the bristles 22 rub against and rotate the roller 18 thereby removing a sufficient quantity of the product 19, in this example a dentifrice, for brushing the teeth.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of a dispenser usable with a dentifrice. In this embodiment, a casing has an opening 11' therein for the insertion and removal of a tooth brush. A cover 12' is slidably mounted on the casing 10 and a casing 10' is divided into a brush holder compartment 13' and a product storing compartment 14 which contains a supply of dentifrice 19' therein. The dispensing mechanism of this embodiment comprises a flexible blade 25 fixedly mounted on one end 26 and having an enlarged, semispherical bulbous portion 27 at its other end. A partition 24 separates the casing 10 into the brush holder compartment 13' and the product storing compartment 14' and has an orifice or aperture therein in which the enlarged portion 27 is adapted to seat. The flexible blade 25 is mounted at the end 26 such that the bulbous portion 27 is biased or pressed into a closed position with the aperture such that the aperture is maintained normally closed unless actuated to an open position by the brush bristles. The partition 24 is dimensioned to prevent the actuation of the dispensing mechanism upon insertion of a toothbrush into the brush box but allows the dispensing mechanism to be actuated by the bristles of the toothbrush upon removal of the brush from the brush box. The partition 24 extends beyond the outermost extension of the enlarged portion 27 and has a projection 28 thereon which functions in much the same manner as the partition 16 and projection 20 of FIG. 1 to prevent the actuation of the dispensing mechanism when the brush is inserted into the brush box.

In operation, a tooth brush 20 having bristles 22 is inserted through opening 11' into a casing 10'. The partition 24 cooperates with the projection 28 and bends the bristles 22' inwardly towards the brush handle thereby preventing the actuation of the dispenser. During removal of the tooth brush 2] from the casing, the bristles 22' come in contact with and force the enlarged bulbous portion 27 inwardly into the product storing compartment 14'. As the enlarged portion dispenser 27 is moved off its seat, the dentifrice 19' is allowed to flow in sufficient quantity onto the bristles 22' for brushing the teeth of the user.

The materials used for making the brush box are preferably inexpensive plastic materials and hence, the brush box can be thrown away once the reserve of dentifrice is spent The capacity of the dentifrice compartment is so selected as to permit at least two washings a day for a couple ofweeks.

It is also possible to construct the brush box of a higher grade of plastic material or of metal and if such a construction is employed, the product dispenser compartment can either be recharged or the empty compartment can be replaced by a filled compartment. In FIG. I, an opening 23 is provided in the product dispenser compartment 14 and can be used to refill the compartment when the supply of dentifrice has been exhausted. A removable sticker would normally be placed over the opening 23 and would be removed during usage of the brush box. The opening 23 also allows air to enter the dispenser compartment to ensure a continuous flow of the viscous liquid therefrom. Of course, the opening 23 is only provided when the liquids or paste product in the compartment will not be adversely affected by exposure to air. The front cover 12 (or 12') as well as the back wall of the casing 10 (or 10) is provided with openings 29 to allow the escape of moisture from the brush holder compartment.

The present invention eliminates the conventional dental paste tube and ensures the automatic coating of the toothbrush with a sufficient amount of dentifrice. As aforementioned, the invention is not limited to a toothbrush box, but is applicable to brushes used for the application ofa cleaning product, cosmetics, shoe polish, facial makeup and the like.

lclaim:

l. A brush box for use with a bristled brush comprising: a casing; a partition in said casing dividing the interior of said casing into a product storing compartment for storing a treating product and a brush holder compartment; means defining an opening in one end of said casing dimensioned to permit the partial downward insertion and upward removal of a bristled brush into and out of said brush holder compartment; dispensing means cooperating with said product storing compartment and directly actuated by the bristles of the bristled brush during upward removal thereof from said brush holder compartment for automatically dispensing treating product onto the bristles comprising means defining an aperture in said partition, a flexible blade disposed in said product storing compartment having at one end a bulbous portion movable to a normally closed position closing said aperture and movable away from said aperture to an open position in response to contact with the bristles during upward removal of the bristled brush, and means fixedly mounting the other end of said flexible blade to maintain said bulbous portion in said normally closed position; and deflecting means for deflecting the bristled brush towards said dispensing means during its upward removal from said brush holder compartment to force the bristles into actuating contact with said dispensing means.

2. A brush box according to claim 1; wherein said deflecting means includes a projection disposed on said partition.

3. A brush box according to claim 2; including a cover slidably mounted on said casing. 

